Belt-lacing machine



Dec. 17, 1929. c. B. LARSON BELT meme momma:

Filed Aug. 24, 1927 6 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. %-z 6? 25% BY M " ATTORNEYS.

Dec. 17, 1929. c. B. LARSON 1,740,180

BELT meme MACHINE Filed Aug. 24, 1927 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN V EN TOR.

BY Yw/ LQ J A TTORN E YS.

Dec. 17, 1929. c. B. LARSON 1,740,180

' BELT LACING MACHINE Filed Aug. 24, 1927 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR. me $441 %cflW/wt2.

' ATTORNEYS.

Dec. 17, 1929.

c. B. LARSON BELT LACING MACHINE Filed Aug. 24, 1927 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 IN VEN TOR.

lay w ATTORNEYS.

Dec. 17, 1929.

C. B. LARSON BELT LACING MACHINE Filed Aug. 24, 1927 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 igiiill!igill h iiiimliil iiliqhMilli! INVENTOR.

ATTORNEYS.

Dec. 17, 1929. c. B. LARSON BELT LACING MACHINE Filed Au Q24. 1927 s Sheets'Sheet 6 INVENTOR.

I 9 ATTORNEYS.

Patented Dec. 17, 1929 NETED STATES PATENT OFFICE CARL B. LARSON, OF MAPLEWOOD, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO C. B. LARSON 8c (30., INC, OF IRVINGTON, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY BELT-LACING MACHINE Application filed August 24, 1927.

I will describe my invention as applied specifically to the lacing of fabric belts, but obviously the principles thereof may be applied with equal effectiveness to lacings of other varieties and therefore my invention is by no means to be limited to the lacing of fabric belts.

The problem of connecting the two ends of a fabric belt, generally termed the lacing of the belt, is a difficult one if the lacing is to be so accomplished as to provide a durable connection and one wherein the load carried by the belt will be uniformly distributed across the width of the belt at the joint.

One of the difficulties encountered is that of preventing the raveling of the ends of the belt, as a result of which the lacing means become disengaged or tear out. I overcome this difficulty by crossing the shanks of the lacing means, placing a fabric over the end of the belt and clinching the lacing means through the belt and the fabric.

Another difficulty is that of lacing a wide belt in such manner as to so fasten the lacing means as to produce a uniform distribu tion of the load throughout the width of the belt. Obviously, if the lacing means are not placed in a straight line, which line should be exactly at right angles to the line of the belt, the load will not be uniformly distributed throughout the width of the belt.

Another difficulty encountered is that of so arranging the piercing points of the lacing means as to produce maximum strength. I overcome this objection by staggering the piercing points of adjacent lacing means so that a piercing point appears at the corner of a substantially equilateral triangle.

Another difficulty encountered is that of positively holding the belt in position throughout the entire lacing operation. This I accomplish by rigidly clamping the belt in position before the lacing operation be- 'lIlS.

b Another difficulty is that of utilizing all the lacing means to avoid waste. This I accomplish by feeding the lacing means one at a time and clinching the same in position one after the other and providing a metal container which prevents distorting or losing the Serial No. 215,030.

hooks until the last one is withdrawn and clinched.

My invention has further advantages in that a complete cycle of the machine must be performed before another lacing means can be fed into it; belts of any desired width may be laced without disturbing the relation of the belt through the lacing means; because of the individual action of the machine on each lacing means great uniformity in results and much less effort are required for lacing than where a number of lacing means are clinched at the same time.

Another advantage results from the fact that the clinching means on opposite sides of the belt are independently adjustable so that the amount or extent of clinch can be regulated. It is usually advisable to imbed the metallic lacing means in the belt on the side which engages with the pulley; a plurality of belts may be laced without disturbing the relation of the parts.

My invention will be better understood by reading the following description illustrating one embodiment thereof and in which Figure 1 is a top plan view of the machine;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the machine;

Fig. 3 is an end elevation as viewed from the right end of the machine;

Fig. 4 is a side elevation as viewed from the left end;

Fig. 5 is a sectional elevation taken on line B-B of Fig. 1;

Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken on line AA of Fig. 1;

Fig. 7 is a detail view of the feeding means;

Fig. 8 is a partial section on line AA of Fig. 1 on a somewhat larger scale than the other figures;

Fig. 9 is a partial section on line C-C of Fig. 1;

Fig. 10 is an end elevation of the magazine for the lacing means;

Fig. 11 is a side elevation of the magazine;

Fig. 12 is a section through the magazine and the feeding means;

Fig. 13 is a rear View of the container loaded with lacing means;

Fig. 14 is an end View of the container carrying lacing means;

Fig. is a top plan view of the end of the belt wit-h the lacing means therein and Fig. 16 is a sectional view showing the location and arrangement of the lacing means.

The machine comprises a base 1 with suitable frame member 2 mounted thereon for carrying the moving parts.

The belt to be laced is placed between the clamps 3 and 4 and the clamp 4 is screwed down tight by the wing nuts 5. This clamp acts to hold the belt rigidly in fixed relation to the lacing means.

Mounted in the frame is the shaft 6 having a thread thereon, preferably of the type shown in Fig. 1. This shaft carries the cam 7, an eccentric 8 and cams 9 and 10. A ratchet wheel 11 is mounted on the shaft and a pawl 12 engages the same. The purpose of the pawl is to prevent the counter-rotation of the shaft for reasons which will appear later.

A roller 13 is held in engagement with the cam 7 by spring 13. The roller 13 is connected with the member 14 shown in detail in Fig. 7. This member 14 reciprocates in a holder 15. It has a tongue 16, the end 01 which is shaped to fit the rounded end 17 of a lacing hook. The tongue 16 slides in a groove 18 of member 19 which in turn slides in a groove 20 in the holder 15. The groove 18 is widened slightly at the end to conform to the shanks 21 and 22 of the hook. In view of the fact that the hook contains a loop, the shanks are therefore in different planes, and the groove 18 is formed so as to hold the hook in vertical position. A flat spring 23 is fitted between the tongue 16 and one side of the groove 18 and has an end 24 which projects over the rounded end 17 of the hook.

This acts with the other means, ust described, for retaining the hook in the feeding member 14. When the member 14 is pushed to the left, as viewed in Fig. 7, by the cam 7, the parts 16 and 19 maintain the same relation as shown in Fig. 7 until the end of the member 19 strikes anvils 25 and 42 whereupon the movement of the member 19 is arrested and the member 14 pushes the hook outwardly to the position shown in Fig. 5.

With the parts in the positions shown in Fig. 5 everything is ready for the hook to be clinched. Upon further rotation of the shaft 6 by means of the crank 26 the cams 9 and 10 cause the arms 27 and 28 to rotate around the pivots 29 and 30, thus forcing the members 31 and 32 inwardly toward each other. Hammers 33 and 34 are fastened to the members 31 and 32, respectively, and engage the hook and press the same into clinched position, as shown in Figs. 8 and 16. One hook is completely clinched for each revolution of shaft 6. This insures a correct clinch which is frequently not realized with machines now in use, owing to the fact that there is no means by which it can be determined that the hook is clinched correctly until the belt is withdrawn from the machine.

As shown in Figs. 5 and 8, the belt 35 is clamped in position between the clamp members 3 and 4 and a piece of fabric 36 is placed over the end of the belt, as shown. It is rigidly held in this position throughout the clinching operation and is fed laterally relative to the hammers by a spring pawl 37 which engages a rack 38 on the lower side of the member 3. The pawl 37 is actuated through a shaft 39 which in turn is actuated once during each revolution of the shaft 6. The amount of movement of the clamping device depends upon the adjustment of the screw 40 which determines the throw of the shaft and pawl 37. A spring 41 engages the rack 38 and. holds the clamp against backward movement. By means of the screw 40 any desired. spacing may be given to the lacing nooks, as will be readily understood.

Returning to the clinching means it will be noted from Figs. 9 and 15 that the two ends of the hook are in different planes. This is because of the loop given to the hook. This fact makes it necessary to place the hammers 33 and 34 in different planes, as shown in Fig. 9. It is also necessary to closely confine the ends of the hooks during the clinching operation in order to prevent promiscuous spreading of the hooks which would take place if the hooks were not so supported because the points on the hooks are not accurately formed on the center of the stock. Each end of the hook tends to follow the point as it is pushed through the belt. The means provided for supporting the ends of the hooks will now be described. By reference to Fig. 9 it will be seen that an anvil 25 engages the top of the belt and a similar anvil 42 engages the lower side of the belt. Springs 43 and 44 tend to press the anvils into contact with the belt. Each of the hammers 33 and 34 has a shoulder 45 and 46, respectively. Screwed onto or otherwise attached to each anvil is a strap 47 which passes over the shoulder on the hammers and when the parts are in the positions shown in Fig. 5 the shoulders engage the straps and hold the anvils away from the belt. The springs 48 and 49 act to push the hammers away from the belt until the members 31 and 32 are pushed inwardly by the levers 27 and 28. As soon as the hammers are moved toward the belt, but before they reach contact with the hooks, the anvils are pushed into contact with the belt by the springs 43 and 44 and since the hook is about the same thickness as the hammer, it is close ly supported by a slot in an anvil on each side of the belt and this support is provided for the hook before the clinching operation begins. After the anvils are in contact with the belt the hammers then move down upon the hook and force the same through the belt to the clinching position shown in Figs. 8 and 9. Because of the staggered relation of the hammers and anvils each anvil acts as a support for the opposite hammer, thus affording a rigid support for the belt at the point where the hook is being pressed through. As the members 31 and 32 move toward the belt a shoulder thereon engages the anvils at 50, thus rigidly supporting the anvil for the clinching operation.

In addition to the movement given to the arms or levers 27 and 28 by the cams 9 and 10 a very powerful movement is also provided for bringing the pivots 29 and 30 of these levers toward each other for the final clinch. The mechanism for this action is shown in detail in Fig. 6 and will now be described. It will be noted that the pivots 29 and 30 are mounted in the ends of inembers 51 and 52. The member 51 has a left hand thread and 52 has a right hand thread. These members are threaded into a sleeve 53 which in turn has fastened upon it by a set screw 54 a member 55 having a projection 56 in which is mounted a pin 57 spring-pressed to the position shown in Fig. 6 by the spring 58. The pin 57 enters an opening in a member 59 which is loosely mounted upon the sleeve 53. A link 60 1) connects with the member 59 and is reciprocated by the eccentric 8 so that during each revolution of the shaft 6 the member 59 and with it the member 55 is oscillated, which in turn causes the sleeve 53 to rotate. Since the members 51 and 52 are held against rotation by set screws 100 and 101 and the arms 27 and 28 it is evident that the points 29 and 30 will be brought toward each other and then returned to the original position once during each revolution of the shaft 6. The eccentric is so related with the cams 7, 9 and 10 that the movement of the pivots 29 and 30 toward each other is greatest when the parts are in the position shown in Figs. 8 and 9. During this movement the ends of the arms 27 and 28 are held at fixed distance from each other by the cams 9 and 10, and upon the movement of the points 29 and 30 toward each other carrying the ends 61 and 62 of the arms 27 and 28 a very powerful clinching action will be given to the hammers.

The member 59, as shown in Fig. 1, has a number of openings 63 therein. By placing the pin 57 mounted on the member 55 in dif ferent openings 63, the distance which the points 29 and 30 move may be varied. Other means than that shown may of course be employed to give this adjustment between the members 55 and 59. The sleeve 53 is sup ported on the frame by brackets 64 in which such sleeve may freely turn.

In order that lacings of any desired width may be made I have provided magazines for holding the lacing hooks. The hooks are as- 13 and 14. This container is preferably of metal of the form shown andhaving an opening at one corner through whi-chthe loop of the hooks extends. A rod 66 is passed through the loops and they are thus held in position. Bars 67 act to hold the end hook in place until the container is in position in the machine. When the container is placed in the machine the cars 67 are either moved from the container or bent back so as to permit the hooks to escape from the container. A plurality of containers may be fastened in the magazine 68, as shown in Figs. 10 and 11. The magazine contains spring members 69 which assist in supporting the hook as it is pushed forward by the feeding member 14 (see Fig. 12). Each of these spring members 69 carries a member 70 which engages the side of the hooks and further assists in supporting the same in position as it is fed into the clinching position.

The magazine illustrated in Figs. 10 and 11 accommodates three containers. These containers are placed in holders 72, 73 and 74 which are mounted upon a frame 75 which slides into position between the supporting members 7 6 and 77 The frame 75 slides into position between the members 76 and 7 7, and a springpressed pin 78 is arranged to pass into suitable opening in the frame of the machine so that one of the holders 72, 73 or 74 is brought opposite the feeding means. Usually the member 68 is placed in position so that the holder 74 would come opposite the feeding means. After the machine has been operated a sufficient number of times to exhaust the supply of hooks from the holder 74, the pin 78 is withdrawn and the frame is moved down so that the holder 73 comes opposite the feeding means. The holder 72 next appears before the feeding means, as will be understood. From this it will be noted that if each holder contains hooks enough to lace a belt 8 inches wide it will be possible to lace three 8 inch belts or one belt 24 inches wide without in any way disturbing the relation of the belt to the clinching means. By providing the machine with clamp members 3 and 4 long enough it is evident that any width of belt may be laced without in any way disturbing the relation of the parts. Should all the hooks in the three containers be exhausted the empty containers may be removed and a full one substituted without in any way disturbing the relation between the clamping means and the clinching means. This arrangement guarantees that the lacing means are in absolute alignment, thus provid ing complete uniformity of load distribution throughout the width of the belt. This would be absolutely impossible without the use of some means for rigidly fixing the relation of the belt to the clinching means.

By referring to Fig. 1 it will be noted that 65 sembled in a container 65, as shown in Figs. a member 79 is placed upon the threaded shaft 6. An; arm is connected with the member 79 through the screws 81 upon which are mounted springs 82. The screws 81 are fixed in the arm 80 and pass loosely through the member 79. The end of the arm 80 engages the loops 1'? of the hooks. The pitch of the thread on the shaft 6 is such that during each revolution of the shaft 6' the arm 80 is fed forward a suflicient distance to expel one of the hooks from the container into position in the feeding means. The springs 82 permit the forward movement of the member 79 so as to put a spring pressure upon the hooks through the arm 80 so that when the feeding means is in position to take a hook a hook is fed into the feeding means with an action similar to a snap action.

When the carriage comprising the members 3 and a has moved to the desired point and it is desired to reset the same for another operation a lever 87 (Fig. 5) is used to rotate the shaft 39 so that a latch 88 engages the base 1 (Fig. 5) which withdraws the spring pawl 37 from the rack 38. The carriage is then free to slide back to the original position for reception of another belt or the like. \Vhen the lever 87 is used as above described its end comes in the path of a pin 89 on the cam 7 so that the shaft 6 cannot be rotated until the latch 88 has been moved to the position shown in Fig. 5, thus bringing the spring pawl int operative engagement with the rack 38. This feature is for the purpose of rendering it impossible to place two hooks alongside of each other without the proper spacing be tween them.

Referring to Fig. 5 it will be noted that the member 31 is provided in its outer end with a screw 83. A look nut 84 holds the screw 83 in adjusted position. Similarly the member 32 is provided with a screw held in adjusted position by a lock nut 86. If it is desired to give different degrees of clinch to the opposite sides of the hooks, this may be done by adjusting the screws 83 and 85 so as to cause a more or less inward movement of the hammers. Where fabric or rubber belts are used in connection with steel pulleys it is of advantage to imbed the steel hooks in the material on the inside of the belt so that as the belt passes over the pulley the grip of the belt on the pulley will not be destroyed. If the steel hooks project above the surface of the belt when the joint of the belt passes over the pulley, there will be an impact and also a very great likelihood of the belt slipping. Both of these are objectionable in most circumstances and always result in damage to the belt sooner of later. It is inadvisable to imbed the hooks in the belt on both sides be cause the material of the belt is weakened at that point more where the hooks are im bedded than where they are not. By properly adjusting the screws 83 and 85 it becomes an easy matter to imbed the hooks on one side of the belt without doing so on the other.

From the foregoing the many advantages of my invention will be apparent to those skilled. in the art and it will also be apparent to them that many changes in detail may be made in the machine without departing from the spirit of my invention.

I claim:

1. In a lacing machine the combination of means for holding the material to be laced, means for holding a plurality of hooks, means for ejecting said hooks, means for clinching said hooks comprising a plurality of anvils and hammers on opposite sides of the material, and means for supporting the hooks in position to be clinched through the material between said hammers and anvils.

2. In a lacing machine, the combination of a plurality of anvils, a plurality of hammers for cooperation with said anvils, pivotal means for actuating said hammers, means for oscillating said pivotal means around their pivots, and means for moving said piv ots toward said anvils.

8. In a lacing machine the combination of an anvil, a hammer for cooperation with said anvil, pivotal means for actuating said hammer, means for oscillating said pivotal means aroundits pivot, screw means for moving said pivot towards said anvil, and means for adjusting the throw of said hammer whereby the extent of clinch of the hook may be controlled.

4. In a lacing machine the combination of a plurality of anvils, one on each side of the work, a plurality of hammers cooperating with. said anvils, means for forcing said hammers towards said anvils simultaneously, and means for holding the ends of a hook in position so that each end of the hook is clinched between an anvil and a hammer.

In a belt lacing machine the combination of a plurality of anvils and hammers operating in different planes, and means for actuating said hammers simultaneously whereby hooks having their ends in different planes may be clinched.

6. In a belt lacing machine the combination of a plurality of anvils and hammers operating in different planes, means for actuating said hammers simultaneously whereby hooks having their ends in different planes may be clinched, and means for adjusting the throw ofsaid hammersindependently of each other whereby the ends may be given different amounts of clinch.

7. In a lacing machine the combination of a clamp for holding the material to be laced, means for holding a plurality of hooks, a shaft, means for rotating said shaft, means operated from said shaft for feeding saiQ hooks into position, means operated froin said shaft for clinching said hooks through the material to be laced, said means including cam operated pivoted levers, and double acting screw means for moving the pivotal points of said levers toward each other during the clinching operation.

8. In a lacing machine, the combination of a clamp for holding the material to be laced, means for holding a plurality of hooks, a shaft, means for rotating said shaft, means operated from said shaft for feeding said hooks into position, means operated from said shaft for clinching said hooks through the material to be laced, said means including pivoted levers, means for moving the levers around the pivots, double acting screws connected with said pivots, and eccentric means on said shaft for turning said screws for moving said pivots toward each other during the clinching operation.

9. In a lacing machine, the combination of means for holding the material to be laced, means readily attachable to said machine for holding a plurality of hooks, means for ejecting said hooks, means for clinching said hooks comprising a plurality of anvils and hammers on opposite sides of the material, and means for supporting the hooks in position to be clinched through the material between said hammers and anvils.

CARL B. LARSON. 

